Tuesday, 23 November 2010

Some may remember that I had a computer meltdown last month, requiring the expenditure of a great wad of (plastic) dough.

The credit card statement arrived yesterday. I'm what is known as a deadbeat in the credit industry. I pay off my balance every month. Apparently, about a third of us do and it must piss off the bankers mightily.

Normally, I don't pay much attention to the fine print, just look at the total and the due date. Occasionally, I look at the minimum payment and am appalled at how low it is. And how tempting that must be to bad money managers. And how lucrative for the fucking banks.

My sweetie recently alerted me to a new feature on our credit card statements. The bank has kindly calculated how long it would take me to pay off my current balance if I paid only the monthly minimum.

The computer fiasco cost just over $1600. My statement says: 'The estimated time to pay your New Balance in full if you pay only the Minimum Payment is: 13 year(s) and 11 month(s).'

Considering that Apple deems its products 'vintage' after only five years, that length of time amounts to nearly three computer generations!

Must be a new rule for banks, yes? Why would they want to inform us how deeply in feudal thrall we are to them?

Screw you, TD. I'm going to transfer some dough from savings and pay it all off.

I too had a hardly drive vapourize on my a short time ago. As I refuse to have a credit card and operate in a cash only universe I could not emulate you - so, in lieu of getting the machine I wanted I got a $75 wonder just to get on.

(I am waiting for a considerable OT cheque - that is three weeks late.)

Good of you to show the deeper meaning of 'dead beat' - even if the real ones are, of course, the banks (this time through the CC companies.)

Hehehe. I'm a deadbeat too. I didn't know we had a term. I like it. :)

I refuse to have debt other than my mortgage, and we're paying that off as quickly as possible. Even though the bank changed our amortization period to 20 years from 15 on us. Bastards. Of course, I could have changed it back, but by then the lawyer had done all the paperwork and it would have cost a pile to get him to redo it.